Customer Reviews

Lenin's Embalmers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You've probably never thought to wonder how Lenin's body managed to look so good for more than half a century, but if you're interested, this book provides both the technical details and a stark view of life in Stalinist Russia, where anyone could find his or her life destroyed overnight on a whim, as the result of a mistake, or because of their religious background. Prof. Zbarsky and his father, both Jewish, were treated well only until their unusual skills (embalming bodies) could be replaced.

Despite that fact, Prof. Zbarsky's description of life in Soviet Russia is remarkably objective. The extensive passages relating to the embalming, first of heads of state and more recently Russian mafia thugs, are frosting on the cake.

I have read so many books about the Former Soviet Union, that I would probably not realize I had read some of them, until I had read into the books for some length. This book by Ilya Zbarsky "Lenin's Embalmers" is not one you will forget.

The book is not ghoulish nor is it sensational; it is an incredible story about an exceptional event and profession. The book is primarily about the initial embalming, and the decades of maintenance upon Lenin's corpse that have followed. The book is made much more interesting, as the Author meshes the story of Lenin's remains with Soviet History as he and his Family experienced it. The Author also includes the History of the tomb itself, from the earliest designs, through the modifications it has gone through over the years. Architectural drawings as well as construction photographs are included.

The book maintains that all of Lenin was initially preserved, and contrary to persistent rumors, that the entire body has remained intact. Whether or not the book is convincing on these points, I leave to other readers. This really is a great offbeat read. It also is a serious explanation of the History, not a tabloid distortion.

A sort of autobiography written by the son of one of Lenin's embalmers who himself became employed as one. Overall, it's very interesting and full of fascinating little anecdotes about the USSR in the 20s and 30s, although I thought that the narration wandered pretty aimlessly after Zbarsky was more or less removed from his position and therefore from the stream of events. He finishes off the last couple of chapters with some stories related to him by his successors. The story about the Russians running around in the jungles of Vietnam hiding the corpse of Ho Chih Minh from the Americans is worth the price of admission alone.

Written by the son of one of Lenin's main embalmer's, this short book follows his family's personal history against the backdrop of Soviet politics. The book is at its most effective in relating the Zbarsky's personal history in the face of Stalinism. Behind all of this is the story of Lenin's corpse. Indeed, the author's father was head of the labratory maintaining Lenin. A fair bit of technical detail is given about the preservation and tomb.
This is a very personal memior. The author had a poisoned relationship with his father, and the book is laced with this acid. Good or Bad, Zbarsky blames his father for misdirecting his studies and his career. In between this, the history of political distortion of science during the 1930's from a personal point of view is fascinating and chilling. The book also tells the story of how his father rose to a privileged position in Soviet society, and some of the double think involved in this. The Zbarsky's thought they were untouchable, having survived the purges of the 1930's only to fall foul of Stalin just before his death. Evidently, with some irony Stalin's death probably saved the father, who was in the gulag by then.
The book concludes with some history of other embalming done by the lab, first for political reasons and then for financial reason after the collapse of the Sovient Union.
In some ways, I thought the poisoned relationship between father and son detracted from the history involved. Perhaps it was deserved, but at some point it color's the author's perspective on other events. Having said that, this book is a strange but interesting story of life in Soviet Russia.

When you buy a book entitled "Lenin's Embalmers" you might expect a work on the scientific process of embalming and maintenance of the body of the Soviet leader Lenin. However to be more precise, the book is really a biography/autobiography of Ilya Zbarsky and his father. The book shines when it does focus on the politics and science of modern embalming in the Soviet Union as well as the current business of preserving members of the current Russian crime gangs.

However the rest of the book should not be overlooked. Here is a facinating insight of what it was to be an intellectual under the Lenin/Stalin regimes during the first half of the 20th century. This is truly an extraordinary story of someone who has had a front row seat to one of history's most brutal regimes and the (eerie) hero worship that regime spawned.

The book takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of Post-revolution Soviet history. It is a memoir on the life of Ilya Zbarsky. It is truly a fascinating study of the totalitarian Soviet regime. Because of the personal accounts, the text is believable and stark. It is a must-have for anybody interested in the cold-war, and some science.

I had never heard about this book until I saw it sitting on a shelf at a small bookstore. The title intrigued me, so I purchased it. While a lot of the work, at least initially, discusses the embalming of Lenin's corpse, there was a considerable amount of material about life during the purges of Stalin. The author was a witness to many events, albeit from a priviledged position in the Soviet hierarchy, and his recounting of the "show trials" and the terror of the "knock in the middle of the night" is revealed explicitly. There is also some recounting of other Communist leaders being embalmed by Russian experts, the section concerning the work on Ho Chi Minh during the height of the American bombing of North Vietnam being particularly interesting. Read this book to learn many different and interesting things about life under Stalin, and also the early days of the USSR.

It is difficult to explain why this book is very interesting. Just read it! Everybody who is interesting in history MUST read this book.

As a funeral director/embalmer, I was always curious about how Lenin was preserved for all these years. This book gives an interesting insight into the process the Russians used, as well as all of the political infighting that took place as well.

Although this book does talk about the embalming process, what makes it fascinating is getting a look at Russian history from someone who experienced it. Ilya's father was a prominent Russian scientist during a turbulent and dangerous time in Russian history. I learned quite a bit from reading this book! Ilya himself also is a scientist who worked on embalming notorious communists, so he is knowledgeable about both embalming and the history he experienced.

PG rated? There is a section or two that I would not want my children/teens to read. These sections deal with infidelity and promiscuity. The sections aren't long, but you may wish to be aware of them.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for adults.